Tube-frame-supporting chain for axminster looms



A. P. PAINE Dec. 10, 1929.

TUBE FRAME SUPPORTING CHAIN FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed June 5`. 1928Patented Dec.` 10, 1929 'UNfran STATES imTi-:N'rf` OFFICE ARTHUR P.PAINE, OE WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, SSIGNOR TO CROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOMWORKS, YOF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTSTUBE-FRAME-SUPPORTING CHAIN FOR AXMIINSTER LOOMS Application led June 5,1928. Serial No. 283,044.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in AXminster loom chains and tubeframes and it is thegener'al object Yof theinvention to provide areadily removable iingeron the transporting chain or tube frame tocooperate' with `'a complementarily formed attaching device on the tubeframe. Y I

In my prior Patent No. 1,493,561 Irhave shown a transporting chainhaving a plurality of fingers or tongues secured permanently thereto tocooperate with locking plungers carried by the tube frames. Itoccasionally happens that a tongue or finger will become broken or:damaged to such'an ev# tent as to interfere with the proper operationof the tube frame, but as made according to my said patent it is ratherdifficult to remove and replace a damaged finger. It is a further objectofmy present invention to provide a tube frame supporting linger: whichmayv be applied to a ychain in a ready and convenient manner tofacilitate mill opera-tion.

There are a numberl of AXminster looms in use at the present time havingthe old style chains without tongues or fingers of any kind and in orderto make it possible to use these chains it is a further object of myinvention to provide a form of tongue which` may be ap plied to'existent chains tothe end that the latter may be'retained as operatingparts of the loom. 1 l

It is amore particularobj ectV of my invention to providethe tongue orfinger having provision for engagement with al chain link onV oppositesides thereof, the tongue or finger preferably having a pair of spacedchain link engaging 'elements the relative position of whichmay bechanged slightly by the blow of .a hammer or similar implement so thatthe finger may be tted and held 'tightly to the chain link.V ,A

With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds.' my invention resides in t-he combination and ar,-rangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims. Y

In the accompanying drawings, wherein two forms of my invention are setforth.

Fig. l shows an end elevation of the lower portion of a pullover chainsprocket and tube frame having the preferred form of my 1inventionapplied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing theparts in detached position, p

Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2showing-my improved form of linger in end elevation,

Fig. 4 is a detailed horizontal section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to the upper portion of Fig. 3 but showing themodified form of the invention, and

Fig. 6 is a detailed vertical section on line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1-4 I have shown a pulloverv shaft 10.and a chain sprocket 11 which cooperates with the transporting chain 12.It is to be understood that there will be one sprocket and chain ateachend of the loom and that the mechanism to be described hereinafter willbe duplicated on both sides of the loom, and for this reason adescriptionv of the deviceas locatedv at one side of the loom willsuffice to cover those located at the opposite side also. Thetransporting chain 12 is provided with double links 13 and single links14, the sprocket 12 ordinarily having recesses '15 located adjacent thedouble links 13. c

The tube frame 16 may be made of. arhollow metal bar rectangular'incross section and may have a bracket 17 secured thereto by means ofscrews 18. 4The bracket has an upwardly extending spool vbearing portion1%, and guides the head or right rhand end as viewed in Fig. 2 ofalocking plunger 21. The other or left hand end of the plunger as shownin Fig. 2 is guided. by a wall`22 formed as part of member 23 held tothe vtube frame by screws 24. Said member 423 has a wall 25 spaced fromthe bracket 17 to denne a pocket ing down through the slot 28. Saidclutch also has a tube frame supporting lip 31 and a stud 32 by means ofwhich the clutch C may be rotated on the stud 29 as an axis. The stud 29is supported by a transferrer arm 33, shown particularly in Fig. 1.

In operation, the head normally projects through the bracket 17 and intothe opening 27 to hold the tube frame locked relatively to the finger onthe transporting chain. When the tube frame is to be moved from thechain to tuft forming position, however, the clutch C will be movedinwardly so that the fin thereof will push the plunger backwardly to aposition where it will be disengaged from the finger, after which thetransferrer arm 33 can move downwardly to move the tube frame toward thefabric.

s The matter thus far described, except the form of the finger, issubstantially the same as set forth in my aforesaid patent and certaindetails of construction shown but not completely described herein areset forth in my co-pending application Ser. No. 278,891,

filed May 18, 1928.

As previously stated my present invention relates more particularly tothe form of the finger F and in carrying my invention into effect Iprovide the finger with a portion having a depending arm 41 whichextends below one of the links 13. A screw 42 passes through arm 41 andthe adjacent portion of the finger F, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. Saidscrew is preferably though not necessarily threaded into the arm 41 andis held tightly in position by check nut 43. The effect of said screw isto clamp the finger and arm 41 v tightly against the opposite verticalsides of the link 13 to position the lower end of the finger withrespect to the length of the tube frame.

' In order that the position of the finger in a plane perpendiculartothe axis of the tube frame may be determined I provide said fingerwith a pair yof oppositely extending ears v44 which as shownparticularly in Fig. 4 may be inclined somewhat as at 45 to the body ofthe finger F. f Said ears extend under the link 13 as shown in Fig. 3and cooperate with the U-shaped upper part of the finger to grip thechain link and position the finger.

I prefer to make the finger of pressed metal such as sheet steel inwhich case the ears can be bent relatively to the finger so that thelatter will be fitted and held tightly to the chain link. 13. Ifdesired, -I may form the finger with the ears purposely a little higherthan is desired so that they may be forced downwardly a proper distanceto effect proper fit with the link 13.

In the modified formof the invention illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 I haveshown means by which the finger may lbe heldl tightlyV to the link 13 insuch away as to prevent improper movement of the finger in a planeperpendicular to the axis of the tube frame. As shown particularly in Fiv. 6 I strike from the upper end of the finger F a lug 50 which isoffset from the body of the modified form of finger and projectsupwardly between the links 13. Another portion of the finger F extendsupwardly in a straight line from the body of the finger and is providedwith an inclined surface 51 which cooperates with a collar 52 having aninclined surface 53. A screw 54 extends through the arm 50 and theupward extension of the finger F and also the collar 52, being heldtightly in position by a check nut 55.

The parts of the modified form of finger will be so designed that thelower edge of the screw 54 will engage the upper portion of the adjacentlink 13 with the collar 52 disposed upwardly with respect to theinclined surface 51. When the screw is tightened in place v the surface53 of the collar 52 will move downwardlylalonor the surface 51 to clampthe link 13 and finger F together tightly. In the modified form of theinvention I may use ears 56 which are similar in purpose andconstruction to the ears 44 of the preferred form of the invention. Inthe modified form of the invention, however, it will ordinarily not benecessary to alter the location of the ears 56 as the adjusting of theparts to effect correct fitting is brought about by thel cooperation ofthe inclined surfaces on the finger F and collar 52. Y

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple form ofreadily detachable and lreplaceable finger which has Contact with thechain link at a plurality of points so that the finger is held tightlyin position relatively tothe transporting chain links 13. It willfurther be seen that by removing either of the screws 42 and 54 thengers may be removed either for repair or replacement. It will furtherbe seen that the ears which extend under the links 13 effectivelyposition the finger and in the case of the preferred form of theinventionafford ready means for causing close fit between the fingersand the transporting chain.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that 4changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not'wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket, a finger permanently connected to the chain'under normalconditions and effective to enter the Y pocket, said finger havingportions to engage fac chain, a tube frame having a pocket, a fingerpermanently connected to the chain under normal conditions and eectiveto enter the pocket, said finger having portions to engage oppositesides of the chain, and detachable means to hold said portions of thefinger against the opposite sides of the chain, said detachable meansbeing independent of the chain.

8. In an Axminster loom7 a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket7 a finger permanently connected to the chain under normalconditions and effective to enter the pocket, said finger having a bentback portion defining two substantially parallel parts of the fingerwhich lie on opposite sides of the chain, and means independent of `thechain to clamp said parts against the chain.

. 4. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket, a finger permanently connected to the chain under normalconditions and effective to enter the pocket, said finger having one endthereof bent back on itself to define a pair of substantially parallelspaced portions between which extends the chainJ and detachable meeansindependent of the chain extending through said portions and clampingthe same tightly to the chain.

5. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain having a double linkformed of two members, a tube frame having a pocket, a fingerpermanently connected to the chain under normal conditions andkeffective to enter the pocket of the tube frame and having a portionextending between the members of the double link and detachably butrigidly secured to one of said members.

6. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain having a double linkformed of two members, a tube frame having a pocket, a fingerpermanently connected to the chain under normal conditions and havingone portion to enter the pocket of the tube frame and having anotherportion to extend between the members of the double link, and means todetachably but rigidly secure said fingers to one of the members of thelink.

7. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain having a double linkformed of two members, a tube frame having a pocket, a fingerpermanently connected to the Chain under normal conditions and havingone portion to enter the pocket of the tube frame and having anotherportion to extend between the members of the double link, and means todetachably but rigidly secure said finger to one of the members of thelink, said means being independent of the chain.

8. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain having a double linkformed of two members7 a tube frame having a pocket, a finger having oneportion to enter the pocket of the tube frame and having another portionbent back on itself to define a pair of spaced substantially parallelparts, one of said parts extending between the members of the doublelink, and detachable means passing through both of said parts to holdsaid finger rigidly to the double link.

9. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket, a finger permanently connected to the chain under normalconditions and effective to enter the pocket, said finger having aportion for attachment with the chain, said portion including a pair ofspaced ears to extend from the finger and engage one side of the chain,said finger including a bent-over portion to extend around the chain andengage that side of the chain opposite'the ears, and detachable meansextending through the 'bent-over portion of the finger and independentof the chain to hold said finger to the chain.

l0. In an Axminster loom,a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket, a finger permanently connected to the chain under normalconditions and effective to enter the pocket, said finger having a pairof oppositely extending ears to lie under a portion of the transportingchain, said finger having another part to extend over the same portionof the chain, and means to hold the finger detachably to the chain7 saidpart which extends over the chain, and the ears which extend. under thechain, serving to position the finger relativelyto the chain.

1l. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain, a tube frame having apocket7 a finger permanently connected to the chain under normalconditions and effective to enter the pocket, said finger having a pairof oppositely 'extending ears to lie under a portion of thc transportingchain, said nger having another portion to extend over the same Yportionof the chain, and means'v to hold the finger detachably tothe chain,Vsaid portion which extends over the chain and the ears which extendunderthe chain serving to position the finger relatively to the chain, saidears being bent out of the plane of the finger to extend under thechain.

12. In an Axminster loom, a transporting chain having a link withsubstantially vertical parallel walls, a tube frame having a pocket, afinger pe 'manently connected to the chain under normal conditions andhaving a portionto enter the pocket and having another portion tocooperate with the link, said other portion having spaced parallel partswhich lie on opposite sides of the link and on difhaving a pocket7 saidfinger permanently connectedv to the chain under normal conditions andhaving one portion to enter a pocket and cooperate therewith to supportthe tube frame and having another portion formed With substantiallyparallel spaced parts to engage op posite sides of the chain.

14. A finger for an AXminster loom transporting chain to cooperate witha tube frame having a pocket, said finger permanently connected to thechain under normal conditions and having one portion to enter the pocketand cooperate therewith to support the tube frame and having anotherportion formed with substantially parallel spaced parts to engageopposite sides of the chain, and a clamping member extending betweensaid parts to clamp the latter against the chain.

l5. A finger for an AXminster loom transporting chain to cooperate witha tube Jframe having a pocket, said finger permanently con nected to thechain under normal conditions and having one portion to enter the pocketand cooperate therewith to support the tube frame and having anotherportion formed with substantially parallel spaced parts to engageopposite sides of the chain, said finger having integral therewithoppositely extending fingers to engage one side of the chain to positionthe finger relatively to the chain.

1G. A finger for an Axminster loom transporting chain to cooperate witha tube frame having a pocket, said finger permanently con-- nected tothe chain under normal conditions and having one portion to enter thelpocket and cooperate therewith to support the tube frame and havinganother portion formed with substantially parallel spaced parts toengage opposite sides of the chain, said finger having integraltherewith oppositely eX- tending lingers to engage one side of the chainto position the finger relatively to the chain, said lingers being bentout of the plane of the finger to lie under the chain.

17. yA finger for an AXminst-er loom transporting chain to cooperatewith a tube frame Y having a pocket, said linger permanently .con-

nected to the chain under normal conditions and having one portion toenter the pocket and cooperate therewith to support the tube frame andhaving another portion formed with substantially parallel spaced partsto engage opposite sides of the chain, that portionv of the finger whichengages the chain being bent back on itself to define said parallelparts. l Y

VIn testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature. y

ARTHUR P. PAINE.

